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Topic: Very cool little engine (Read 4552 times)

So I was watching beyond tomorrow today, and they did a bit about a very cool little engine. It's a rotary engine that weighs just 12 lbs and runs off of compressed air... what's so cool about it is that it has enough power to pull 2 tons, and can go fast enough to take a car on the freeway. They did several demonstrations of it, and the inventor has already put it in several different types of vehicles to demonstrate it. The vehicle he put it in looked like a honda civic type vehicle (it was in Europe, so I'm not sure that's exactly the make/model, I didn't get a look at that), and with the air tanks he had in it, it took him 2 and a half minutes to fully charge the tanks, and it ran for about 100km off that. He also put it in a forklift and boat, and looked like it worked well in the forklift (not so much in the boat, but they may just not have opened up the throttle on it, they only showed it for about a second as they were pulling away from the dock). Another cool thing about it is that because there's almost 0 friction in the engine (most of the moving parts don't touch anything because they are cushioned by a thin layer of air is how they described it), it looks like it wouldn't wear out.

This thing looks like it could be the answer to high gas prices. Of course, I'd want to put in bigger air tanks, but that's easy enough that anyone could do it. Sure the electricity to run the compressor still costs money, but running a compressor all day is still cheaper (by far) than what I spend in gas for just an hour of driving.

Very cool, Is there a web link to that or anything? I have traveled quite a bit lately (Mostly Europe) and I am convinced that most of what we need in this crisis is out there. It has just been hushed by the lobbyists. We just need to hog tie those buggers and get back to what we do best. Getting things figured out and done. Just my .02F

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Which is why I'm sure they are working out some major major bugs in it. If most of these things were as easy, good, and safe as they portray these things, the first major company that could mass produce them would become a monopoly in a real hurry.

It has just been hushed by the lobbyists unions. We just need to hog tie those buggers and get back to what we do best. Getting things figured out and done.

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.....The greatest changes occur in their country without their cooperation. They are not even aware of precisely what has taken place. They suspect it; they have heard of the event by chance. More than that, they are unconcerned with the fortunes of their village, the safety of their streets, the fate of their church and its vestry. They think that such things have nothing to do with them, that they belong to a powerful stranger called “the government.” They enjoy these goods as tenants, without a sense of ownership, and never give a thought to how they might be improved.....

Theres also some kind of motor thats called a Linear magnet motor. My friend, Noel told me about it(Noel knows everything pretty much..My wife calls him "Know All"..I googled it but didnt really have time to look at everything,..This device will shut down the oil industry..Its also so great a thing that, if mass developed, It will totally destory the world economy..Its been invented in Germany.your friend,john

OOOps....I didnt mean to write it THAT way! :-\..You guys probably think i'm gonna blow up the world, huh? I meant"Great" like in "Big and Bad" great.....(Oh boy,....I'm not getting anywhere here, am I?)OK,..I mean, if it was put on the market, we all could afford one because they arent that expensive to build, and none of us would have an electric bill. No electric bill means no fuel used to make electricity. No fuel means no oil wells..and on and on... Then there would be one for a car or truck made too! So far, what I understand, is that they are kinda hard to start...and, once they start spinning, they are hard to stop!!..They just spin faster and faster and FASTER!!!,,But, the only parts that would break down would be the bearings and whatever would be used for braking.I'll get Noel to see if he can send me a link about this motor and put it here. :)

Just compressed air? That would be a big ole tank for sure for 100km range. Now compressed air like off of liquid nitrogen u would not need as big of a tank but would have a weight issue for sure. The Ln2 would offer cooling for the engine as a by product of the use of Ln2. I can see myself 40 miles off shore with no one in sight, big storm coming and I can't start the engine on the boat... well i guess that could happen with a standard engine too.

I had to do some research to find out why compressed air didn't work the same as compressed CO2 or other gasses like nitrogen. CO2 turns to a liquid at a certain amount of pressure where as compressed air does not. So with CO2 you are literally filling the tank with liquid. As the gas is released and the pressure drops the liquid evaporates into gas raising the pressure again. The liquid expanding into gas keeps the pressure in the tank at a steady pressure for a long time of use where as compressed air pressure goes down the second you use it and keeps going down.

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They did another repeat on the Discovery channel last night about the compressed air engine. A guy in France is actually manufacturing them. Problems, it requires compressed air at 4300 psi and it takes 4 hours to recharge if you use the compressor that comes with it, the 2nd problem is that no one wants to carry cylinders of compressed air to service it. A fill up of air is good for about 150 Km.

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They did another repeat on the Discovery channel last night about the compressed air engine. A guy in France is actually manufacturing them. Problems, it requires compressed air at 4300 psi and it takes 4 hours to recharge if you use the compressor that comes with it, the 2nd problem is that no one wants to carry cylinders of compressed air to service it. A fill up of air is good for about 150 Km.

4300 psi? :shock: Yikes! Oh well, I'd still buy one as long as they have a compressor to go with it... 150km will get me round-trip to work and back to plug it back in... I spend $20 in gas to make that same trip each day, so 4 hours of the compressor being plugged in would still be MUCH cheaper. It would be cool if you could swap out the tanks though, that way the compressor could be going while I'm away, then I could just swap the tanks and be ready to go again. I wonder how much they'd sell for if mass produced.

I would bet that 90% of the people in this world use 100km of distance during the course of a day. That is about 60 miles or so. I drive about 40 miles roundtrip each day for work and would be happy to fill it up at night for 4 hours. Just keep another vehicle around for the longer trips etc.

A nice option would be to plug in at each stop. Go to work 80KM, plug it in at a box on your parking space, refill while at work, drive home, plug in at home to refill. Go to the Quick-Stop, plug in at a metered plug, drop in a quarter, refill go to next stop, repeat.

I would bet that 90% of the people in this world use 100km of distance during the course of a day. That is about 60 miles or so. I drive about 40 miles roundtrip each day for work and would be happy to fill it up at night for 4 hours. Just keep another vehicle around for the longer trips etc.

Dennis

I actually drive close to 60 mi round-trip for work... as long as it made it there and back... I'm happy to let the compressor run for a few hours every night. Wonder when they'll become available over here, or heck, even over there. With that kind of fuel savings, I can afford to have it shipped back accross the pond. Though the whole steering wheel on the wrong side might be a problem.